What You'll Learn:

1. How a hybrid cold-formed steel and mass timber system out-competes concrete in the 5 to 10 story range
2. How load-bearing external walls create a dry envelope that lets interior and exterior trades run concurrently, compressing the build schedule
3. Tangible ways to reduce cost per square foot and shorten schedule, with direct support from completed projects including 1600 Pearl Street and West Michigan University student housing

In the 5 to 10 story accommodation market (hotels, student housing, residential, social housing), light frame wall systems can't reach that height leaving concrete as the default. This session walks through a hybrid build system that pairs load-bearing cold-formed steel wall assemblies with mass timber floor panels acting as the structural diaphragm. Both internal and external walls are load bearing. That's a departure from traditional cross-wall construction, where the external walls are non-load-bearing infill. It's a 2D panelized system, not 3D volumetric, which works well across the long shipping distances common in North America. Because the external walls are load bearing, the building becomes a dry envelope as it goes up. That changes the schedule: drywall, MEP rough-in, and interior fit-out can run concurrently with external facade work. Numbers from completed work include cost per square foot reductions versus concrete frame and overall project savings around 10%, with real examples provided.

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